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Monday, January 30, 2017

An ordinary relationship

You think this is going to be an
anti-Trump screed, but he wasn't necessarily wrong about this. Before he even
won last year's Republican primary, he put his finger on something that the
world has lost. And we didn't even realize until now that it was gone.

Sure, it gives me the creeps that he held hands with the prime minister
of Britain, as it would to see him touch any woman. Ronnie and Maggie this was
not. But Theresa May is part of the problem, too--waiting for French and German
leadership before her government would criticize the president's latest
executive order.

What we are seeing is not just a new administration in the USA
or a new, pro-Brexit British government. This is the end of leadership in the
world.

Since World War II, when the Allies were victorious, it has become
customary to refer to the President of the United States as "the leader of
the free world." But like so much about the presidency, it turns out that
this was only custom. It's not written in law anywhere that the president
should lead the free world, and when he was a candidate, Donald promised not to
do so. Think about how many conventions--of respect for other American
institutions--he violated, and gained support by violating. He ridiculed former
president George W. Bush, a fellow Republican, who all Republicans previously
had said kept the country safe. He spoke what many Americans think but no
candidate had dared to say: that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a waste.
And he implied that the sacrifice of soldiers (like Humayun Khan) was in vain.

If you need more evidence that America has turned upside down, look at
the other side. It was the Democratic convention, not the Republican, that
played on patriotism, military veterans, and how great America already was.
Never before had a Republican painted such a dark, pessimistic picture of
America as a loser--or been rewarded for it. And until Donald attacked the
Central Intelligence Agency, had you ever heard a good word on the left for
the CIA?

He promised a new world in which America would be great--on its own, with no leadership role. Not in NATO, nor in world trade. He promised tighter borders and protectionist laws. No longer will China, the emerging global superpower, take advantage of the US.

Republicans don't normally campaign by putting down America, talking about how awful it is to be black in "the inner cities" or how other countries are always taking advantage of our "stupid" country. The irony is, by winning with such a vision, the president all but guarantees that it will come true.

By vacating that global leadership role, he is
ceding it. To China (and Russia, which is still a nuclear superpower). Those
countries have lots more experience being dictatorships than the US does. They
will eat America alive.

The USA has always thought of itself as an exceptional country, but it's
been a long time since it was anywhere near the top on a host of measures:
human rights, education, violent crime, work-life balance. There's nothing
written in the Constitution that says the US has to be a leader, let alone an
example to the rest of the world.

In trying to make America a great country "again," this
administration is actually making it more of an ordinary one. Now, there's
nothing wrong with being just one of many countries. Every other country
manages it. British people love Britain, the French love France, yet it has
been ages since the French and British empires battled for world supremacy.
Canadians think they live in the greatest nation on earth, but that doesn't mean
they think all other nations want to be like Canada.

But think about what the USA has to lose. World-class researchers will
no longer come to a country that muzzles scientists. The best and the brightest
won't come where immigrants are unwelcome. The finest health care in the world
will be affordable to fewer of America's own people than ever.

And you know what? The CIA was wrong about weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq. The war was a terrible mistake. A lot of people around the world will
be glad if the US really does mind its own business.

My author Web site

About Me

Walking the line between discretion and paranoia, I am always writing and travel as much as I can. My first novel, Arusha, was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. My second novel is The Trees in the Field.